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Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Let the Magic Spill

There is always a lingering magical feeling in the few days after a holiday. It's a bit subdued, mellow, maybe even somber-but it is there and it is fantastic. Halloween is up there on my list of favorite things, right there with walking barefoot in the grass and driving with the windows open on sunshine days. Halloween gives everyone the chance to be a child. We get to play dress up, be whoever we want, and walk around the streets begging for candy. It is a chance to take photos with life-size bananas, Marilyn Monroe, and giant gorillas. On Halloween children and adults are given a chance to blur the lines, even the playing field, become one another, and for a sneezeweed getting to be an adult and a child all at the same time is the ultimate dream.

I have always loved to play pretend and dress up. When I was a little child I had a room full of toys, but often needed nothing more than a blanket draped over my back and the green carpet throughout my house to entertain me (the horse) for hours. As I got older I gave up on crawling around on the floor but certainly did not give up pretending. I have notebooks from my preteen years filled with magazine clippings of houses, jewelry, clothes, and yes, even boys that I would pretend were all mine. Even now, there are times when I will come out of the shower and instead of throwing on a pair of sweat pants before bed, I will slide into my nicest dress and a pair of heels just to pretend for a moment that I have some grand place to be that night. Any excuse to put on a crown and pearls and pink lipstick is an absolute sneezedream. That being said, you can probably understand why I am so in love with Halloween.

Thanks Mike, for the pic

This year, like many others, I spent Halloween in my little mountain town where the celebration is more than a holiday or tradition-it's a feeling, a sensation, a spirit that fills the streets. There are parades, haunted houses, jack-o-lantern competitions, and hundreds of people roaming in the most elaborate and creative costumes you'll ever see. Halloween in the mountain town is pure magic, and I can't imagine any other place I would want to spend the day.

Everyone gets all wrapped up in the magic of Halloween. October is one giant heap of anticipation that builds up to the one day where each one of us gets to release a little bit of our inner child. But it is what comes after the holiday, when we turn our calendars and shift our minds to turkeys and family dinners, that makes me fill up with quiet delight. The holiday lingers and we get the chance to carry a bit of it's magic into the next day with us. For me, the magic that spilled into November pooled itself all over my day. When I arrived to work, I was greeted by the sweetest baby in pumpkin and ghost clad jammies...

Seeing the little buddha belly all Halloweened up on the first of November brought a smile to my face, a little spill of magic on my heart. There was of course the jack-o-lanterns still lovely and lit up on the dining-room table and, if nothing else, the giant heap of candy on the kitchen counter should be evidence enough of the day after magic. But of course, the sneezeweed loved waking up to the hot pink nail polish sparkling on my post-halloween nails.

Did I feel silly handing my train ticket to the conductor, surrounded by grown men in their business suits, with my hot pink nails? Yes. Did my cheeks rosy up when my boss commented on how she only wears clear polish? Yes. Did I think about chipping it off every time I looked down at it all day? Yes. But while the post-grad, pre-professional me can't stand the sight of hot pink in November, the sneezeweed me is reveling in it and I still can't bring myself to take a cotton ball to it. Halloween is the ultimate sneezeweed holiday. I intend on making this magic last for as long as I can, until the hot-pink polish chips off.

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